Faithful, Earnest Warnings
            
            
              77
            
            
              hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
            
            
              therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” “For
            
            
              God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that
            
            
              whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
            
            
              life.” Christ is to be accepted, believed on, and exalted. This is to be
            
            
              the theme of conversation—the preciousness of Christ.
            
            
              Truth to be Enthroned in the Heart
            
            
              There is in Battle Creek a class that have the truth planted in the
            
            
              heart. It is to them the power of God unto salvation. But unless the
            
            
              truth is enthroned in the heart, and a thorough transition takes place
            
            
              from darkness to light, those who handle sacred responsibilities are
            
            
              ministers of darkness, blind leaders of the blind. “Clouds they are
            
            
              without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth,
            
            
              without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.” God requires that
            
            
              every soul that names His name shall have the truth enthroned in the
            
            
              heart. The time in which we live demands it. Eternity demands it.
            
            
              Pure religion demands it.
            
            
              [82]
            
            
              Worldly Amusements
            
            
              Parties of Pleasure
            
            
              [ (1896).]
            
            
              While there has been so much fear of excitement and enthusiasm
            
            
              in the service of God, there has been manifest an enthusiasm in
            
            
              another line which to many seems wholly congenial. I refer to the
            
            
              parties of pleasure that have been held among our people. These
            
            
              occasions have taken much of the time and attention of people who
            
            
              profess to be servants of Christ; but have these assemblies tended
            
            
              to the glory of His name? Was Jesus invited to preside over them?
            
            
              Gatherings for social intercourse may be made in the highest degree
            
            
              profitable and instructive when those who meet together have the
            
            
              love of God glowing in their hearts, when they meet to exchange
            
            
              thoughts in regard to the word of God, or to consider methods for
            
            
              advancing His work, and doing good to their fellowmen. When
            
            
              nothing is said or done to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, but it is
            
            
              regarded as a welcome guest, then God is honored, and those who